4 The Hunter Becomes the Hunted
by ShayminSkyForme
Summary: Kelly incounters another vampire...with disasterious results. Endzone/ Law of Talos characters used


Eyes closed, I reached my hand into a nearby shadow, focusing.

_Come on…work._

I closed my fingers on a hilt.

Opening my eyes, I pulled a sword out of the darkness. It was made completely of shadows.

I held it up. "Yes! It worked!"

My head started spinning. The blade dissolved. I fell backwards heavily.

Shadow's head entered my vision. "Trying it again and again won't help; it drains too much of your energy."

I looked at her. "I _did_ form a complete sword this time."

"What good is a weapon that dissolves?" She licked her paw. "Face it; you're not strong enough to do this."

I sat up, wincing slightly. "And how do I become stronger?"

She flicked her ears at me. "I don't know...perhaps time is the answer..."

I mulled over that for several seconds, then asked, "Do you think that I will be able to animorph?"

She shrugged. "Don't know. You _are_ half human, so your powers might be different than the ones a full vamp has."

I shuddered as a memory rushed through me: _my father was flying around me, transforming into different birds as he went..._

_Raven, jay, parrot, cardinal, dove..._

_I was laughing..._

"Kelly!" Shadow's voice jolted me back to reality.

I focused on her. "What?"

She growled, hackles raised, looking behind me.

I turned.

A man wearing all black was standing against the wall, watching us.

I scooped Shadow up in my arms and stood, facing the man. "Hello..."

The man walked up to us, studying me. "So," he said in a strange accent, "the halfa exists." He smiled, revealing fangs. His eyes were blood red.

Shadow snarled.

My pulse quickened. A-another vampire!?

I kept the fear out of my voice: "What do you want?"

His crimson eyes looked evil. "I was just in the neighborhood, and just wanted to see if there was any truth to the vampire-human hybrid. And here you are." He took a deep breath. "Mmm...your blood..."

Oh no...

I started to back away from him. "Well...it was nice to meet you, but I need to go now..." I trailed off when he started to approach me.

"Now there," he said, "don't leave! I just want to talk—" he broke off and lunged at me, fangs aimed for my neck.

Snarling, Shadow jumped out of my arms and intercepted him. "Run!" she yelled at me, clawing at the vamp's head.

As cowardly I knew it was, I turned and ran along the wall of the park, more scared then I have ever been in my life. _Please, please, please_, I prayed, _let Karl or Climber or Raina or_ someone _be here to help me_.

I heard Shadow yelp in pain. Looking over my shoulder, I saw her hit the wall hard, covered in blood. The vampire was running toward me now, fangs bared.

Turning back to the front, I continued to sprint, adrenaline mixing with fear. In the back of my mind, the only place that wasn't swamped with horror, I realized that this whole thing was pretty ironic; the predator becomes the prey.

A hiss sounded from directly behind me. The man grabbed me and trapped me in a headlock. He dragged me over to a tree and pinned me against it. I started yelling gibberish, hoping that someone, _anyone_, would come.

His hand tightened around my throat, cutting off my voice. "Now now now, don't scream. No one can hear you anyway." He opened his mouth, fangs gleaming. "You're weak. I expected more." He lowered his head toward my neck. "But then again, you _are _part human." Fangs pierced my neck.

Pain flared throughout my body; it felt like acid was being injected in my veins. Within seconds, my body started failing...I couldn't see...I couldn't breathe...my heartbeat slowed...

Suddenly, the vampire wasn't holding me up. I collapsed, hyperventilating.

Someone knelt beside me, speaking words that I couldn't make out.

I smelled human blood.

I blinked hard. Clarice was the one beside me. "Kelly!"

I turned toward the wall. Climber was standing there, between us and the vampire, who was covered in blood. _My_ blood.

"Kelly?" I turned back to Clarice. "Are you okay?"

I was too weak to make a sarcastic comeback. I tried to push myself up, but my arm buckled.

She grabbed me, stopping me from getting a face full of dirt. She pulled me up to a sitting position.

I smiled slightly. "Does that answer you question?"

A monstrous roar sounded from the wall. Wincing, we both turned.

A huge black dragon with red eyes was towering over Climber, flames flicking in its maw.

Clarice slapped her hands over her mouth in horror, pulse accelerating. "Oh my God..."

Blood...

Blood...

_Blood... _

I was empty...

I needed nourishment...

Blood...so _close_.

WHAT WAS I DOING!?

I jerked out of the trance. With a start, I realized that my fangs were extended and inches from Clarice's neck.

She hadn't noticed me; she was watching in silent horror as Climber jumped around frantically dodging fire breath.

"I have to help him," I said quietly to myself.

Clarice heard me and looked at me in surprise. "How? You have no energy left!"

"Kelly." We whirled around and saw Shadow limping toward us, covered in her own blood.

"Shadow!" I exclaimed. "You're alive!"

She raised an eyebrow. "Obviously, but that's not the issue now." She pointed her snout toward the battle: Climber had had abandoned trying to attack the dragon and was running around trying not to catch on fire; the vamp knew he had won, but was entertaining himself. "He's going to destroy Climber, then come over here and kill the three of us."

"Shadow, can you fight him?" Clarice asked.

To answer her question, Shadow turned. A deep gash ran from her left collarbone to the base of her spine. It wasn't bleeding, but you could see bone in several places.

Clarice turned green. I usually have a strong stomach, but I felt like I was going to vomit.

Shadow turned back to the front, hiding her injury. "It will heal, but not fast enough that I can fight."

My eye started twitching like it does when I'm irritated. "And what am I suppose to do?!" I swung my arms out for emphasis. "I can barely move! How am going to fight a powerful, shape-shifting, vampire!?" I lowered my arms, defeated. "What am I suppose to do?"

Clarice put an arm around me, trying to comfort me. I shrugged it off.

Suddenly, Shadow growled and took a set back from me, eyes wide.

I frowned at her. "What?"

"Reach into the shadows."

"What?"

"Just do it!"

"Okay..." I stuck my hand into a shadow and immediately passed out.

"Kelly! Wake up!" Clarice was shaking me.

I sat up, shaking my head. "What just happened?" I looked at Shadow, who was sitting there patiently.

"Look at your hand," she said simply.

I did. In it was a graceful hand-and-a-half, pure black sword.

I blinked in shock. No freaking way. "H-how...?"

"The combination of adrenaline and lack of blood in your veins caused and energy surge that allowed you to—" She broke off, shaking her head. "Geez."

I frowned. "Where did _that_ come from?"

She smiled slightly. "An old friend. But that doesn't matter now; you need to—" A yelp cut her off.

The three of us turned.

The dragon-vamp had grabbed Climber and was holding him up to his maw, flames flickering between his bared teeth.

Instinct kicked in; I melted into the shadows that surrounded me and reappeared above Climber. Gravity pulled me down, slicing the sword through the scales and tendons of its hand. The dragon roared and released the mannequin, who fell to the ground. I landed next to him.

The dragon roared, eyes glowing with hatred.

I felt strangely calm. "Climber, get back. I've got it from here."

"But w-what are y-you g-going to d-do?"

I grinned, lengthening my fangs. "I have a vampire to stake."

Flames rushed toward us. Climber stumbled backwards as I darted around it. I took aim.

Seconds later, the shadow-sword impaled itself into the dragon's right eye. Focusing, I made it explode.

The dragon roared in pain, stumbling. He shrunk back to his normal size.

Immediately, I grabbed him and pinned him up against the wall.

He looked at me with his one good eye, smiling slightly. "You're stronger than I gave you credit for."

I growled, bearing my fangs.

"Well, what are you going to do now? Vampires don't kill other vampires; that's our principal law."

While he had been talking, I had become lightheaded from lack of blood, lack of nourishment.

I needed sustenance. Now.

And I didn't care where it came from.

My fangs sank into his jugular.

Shrieking, he tried to struggle away, going on about how vampires don't feed from other vampires, how it's against their law. But, to put it bluntly, I DIDN'T CARE.

Oh, and if vampires didn't feed from each other, why did he feed on me?

Four words: Karma is a bitch.

Gradually, his struggles weakened and his pulse slowed. When I had drained him dry, I released his body, which slumped onto the ground.

I wiped my mouth clean as I walked over to the others. "You guys okay?"

Clarice was sewing up a hole in Climber's arm. "More or less," she replied, not taking her eyes off the needle and thread.

Climber smiled at me. "Thanks for saving me."

"Ditto," I replied, smiling back.

"'Ditto'? What does that mean?"

Clarice and I looked at each other exasperatedly.

"I'm going home; see both of you later." Before they could reply, I scooped up Shadow and shadow-traveled home.

I set her down on my bed and looked at her back. Surprisingly, the wound was gone. "How—?"

"I heal fast." She curled up on my pillow.

"I know that..." I didn't even bother to change; I laid down next to her in my bloodstained, ripped-up clothes. Exactly ten seconds later, I passed out.


End file.
